Supporting Grassroots Change

The People’s Alliance Fund is a non-profit organization that supports progressive educational and research activities in Durham and other North Carolina communities. The Fund is a 501(c)(3) entity, making contributions to it tax-deductible.

The People’s Alliance Fund is currently focused on three priorities:

The Fund sponsors You Can Vote, a non-partisan voter education project whose volunteers have registered over 20,000 voters since 2014. They have also informed thousands of North Carolinians about the state’s changing voting laws, assuring them that despite the obstacles and myths “You can still vote” and showing them how.

The Fund also sponsors the Durham Living Wage Project, a very successful campaign launched in March 2015 that has certified over 100 businesses and nonprofits committed to paying their employees a living wage.

Finally, the Fund provides small, quickly-decided Micro-grants to volunteer-led progressive efforts in Durham and the greater Triangle area. When a group of progressive activists sees the need for an educational forum or an organizing activity on an issue and is willing to devote hours of time to the effort, the Fund can help cover the cost of materials, room rental, and other basic expenses so the group can focus on substance.

In addition to individual donations, The People’s Alliance Fund can also receive and administer grants from larger foundations for projects in the community. The Fund received grants for the You Can Vote project from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation for 2016 and 2017, grants for the Durham Living Wage Project from The Fund for Southern Communities and the Unitarian Universalist Fund, and general capacity-building grants from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.